economic geography of the Bor s region a case study
The economic geography of the Borås region - a case study Paper within Economic Geography Table of Contents 1 Introduction 1 2 Purpose 2 3 Background 2 3.1 The economic development of the Borås region since the 1850’s 2 3.2 Europe since the World War 3 4 An investigation of Borås’ competitiveness 5 4. ... 4 The factors of production: labor 8 5 Analysis 9 6 Conclusion 10 References 12 1 Introduction In this assignment, we aim to perform a case study of the Borås region. The Borås region is situated in the western part of Sweden, between Gothenburg and Jönköping. The central city is Borås, a medium-sized Swedish town with a population of 98 150 people in Decem-ber 2002. ... se) Historically, the region has been heavily dominated by the textile-clothing industry, and so it is still today, although it has widened its industrial basis since the late 60s, in order to tackle competition from newly industrialised areas (Andersson & Johansson 1995). Poor agricultural output stimulated industrial growth in the region at an early stage, and the spe-cialisation in the textile and clothing industry was a logical result of natural comparative advantages for this industry (Andersson & Johansson 1995). Once the industry was estab-lished Borås soon developed into a regional centre for textile-clothing. In this assignment, we aim to examine the region’s potential for economic development in the dynamic economic environment of today. It is a time of regional integration and global-isation, and the European Union has created new economic conditions, where trade barri-ers have been effectively removed, thus creating greater market areas and enabling compe-tition. We intend to look at the economic possibilities of the Borås region in this environ-ment. How can Borås benefit from its geographical position? What is the future of the re-gion and what has to be done in order to ensure a healthy and competitive region? 2 Purpose In short, we intend to explore the economic development potential of the Borås region from an economic geographer’s point of view. ... 1 The economic development of the Borås region since the 1850’s In the Borås region, a number of cotton factories were established in the middle of the 19th century. This was the starting point of the textile industry’s many years of dominance in the region. ... This industrial development resulted in the creation of a number of small towns, and the town of Borås became the regional centre for production and trade. There are a number of reasons why this industry was established in the Borås region in-stead of any other part of the country. ... The proximity to Gothenburg provided excellent com-munications, and in the region there was also a surplus of labour, that could be employed in the growing industry. Altogether, the Borås region had great comparative advantages for the textile industry. At the end of the 1950s some of the country’s greatest companies in the textile-clothing business, for example Borås Wäfveri and Sveriges Förenade Trikåfab-riker, were situated in Borås (Andersson & Johansson 1995). However, after the Second World War, the region began to face troubles when new areas in Western Europe were industrialised. ... Due to Borås’ great dependence on the textile industry, the crisis struck the region particularly hard. ... Borås could no longer rely on the textile industry only, and various governmental measures were intro-duced in order to give the region a broader industrial base.